April 27, 2006
Barceló leaves legacy of building partnerships
Rusty Barceló leaves her friends and colleagues at the UW with these words of advice: Never fear change.
Such advice is hardly surprising, given that Barceló chose to come to the UW in 2001, just a few years after the passage of Initiative 200, which banned affirmative action. Where other advocates of diversity saw rejection, Barceló saw opportunity. “It created a need for a new conversation, for a need to rethink the work of diversity that was actually overdue,” she says.
Barceló will be departing shortly for a position as the University of Minnesota’s first vice president for access, equity and multicultural affairs and vice provost.
“It feels like I’m going home,” she says. Barceló had been at Minnesota from 1996 to 2001, serving as associate vice president for multicultural and academic affairs. She also headed the Chicano Studies Department there from 1999 to 2001. Minnesota named a collaborative multicultural projects grant after Barceló upon her departure. The award Web site describes her vision of the multicultural university “focused on the importance of building coalitions to foster an inclusive and diverse campus environment.”
Barceló’s vision relies on linkages — student diversity is linked to faculty and staff diversity, which in turn are linked to curriculum, research and climate. Her work at the UW has focused on establishing University-wide collaborations among networks of colleagues who will continue to work on issues of diversity. “I believe that diversity is more visible and less marginalized than it was,” she says. “I believe that the issue has acquired new respect and legitimacy.”
“Rusty Barceló understands that nurturing diversity at an institution like this can never be one person’s or one office’s job,” said UW President Mark A. Emmert. “Learning about different perspectives, experiences, lifestyles, cultures, ethnicities and race is everyone’s responsibility. She inspires others to recognize this and to examine how they are contributing to a diverse ethos on campus, and that is what is so remarkable about her and her approach. It has been a very welcome addition to the University, and we need to ensure that we continue the momentum Rusty brought to us.”
Besides adding new strength and vitality to programs in the Office of Minority Affairs (OMA), Barceló oversaw a diversity appraisal that will help guide future institutional planning. She also has championed the creation of a new position, associate vice provost for faculty advancement, which will help the University address faculty diversity and retention. A new diversity research institute has been launched and is providing seed grants for faculty research, as well as presenting an annual research conference and creating the University’s first diversity research inventory. The institute also is host to the Samuel E. Kelly Lectures, honoring the first UW vice president for minority affairs.
Since her arrival, the University has gained nearly $15 million in diversity scholarship support through Campaign UW.
“One thing of which I’m proud is that, prior to my arrival, things were compartmentalized. Diversity was the responsibility of the OMA. Now, I think many people realize that this is everyone’s responsibility, and so many people are interested in this issue. The diversity appraisal is an effort to answer the question, Are we organized institutionally to do this work effectively in the coming years? I believe that, particularly with UW Bothell and UW Tacoma becoming four year institutions, we’ll need to rethink OMA and take a clearer look at what we hope to achieve as a University. I also believe that we need to look more carefully at graduate education.”
Barceló strengthened the UW’s collaborations and relationships, including expansion of the GEAR-UP program in two major agricultural regions of the state, Yakima and Skagit counties. Many of the people in these rural communities remarked, when she visited, that it was the first by any high-ranking UW official.
Barceló believes that future discussions of diversity need to occur not just within institutions but among institutions of higher education. “Diversity knows no boundaries,” she says. “What happens here, for example, with undergraduates can affect graduate schools in the region and perhaps the nation. We need to think about these issues and consult more broadly. In the final analysis, this is really all about the students. They’re the reason we’re here, and what we create is for the world that they will live in.”
